Chemist

About the role

Organizational Location: This position is with the Department of Homeland Security, within U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Operations Support (OS, Laboratories and Scientific Services (LSS) in Savannah, GA; Newark, NJ; Houston, TX; and Ashburn, VA. Individual Occupational Requirements: To be eligible for consideration, you must submit the required documentation with your application package showing that you meet the requirements such as college transcripts from an accredited institution (must show you meet the educational requirements outlined in this announcement), certifications, proof of training, statements of qualifications, etc. Basic Requirements: A. Degree: physical sciences, life sciences, or engineering that included 30 semester hours in chemistry, supplemented by course work in mathematics through differential and integral calculus, and at least 6 semester hours of physics. OR B. Combination of education and experience -- course work equivalent to a major as shown in A above, including at least 30 semester hours in chemistry, supplemented by mathematics through differential and integral calculus, and at least 6 semester hours of physics, plus appropriate experience or additional education. Experience: You qualify for the GS-07 grade level if you possess 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level, performing duties such as: Serving as a chemist trainee performing routine chemical analysis on a limited range of samples; Assisting higher level chemists by preparing samples for analysis; Setting the controls of and making adjustments to instrumentation and automated equipment; Checking the laboratory equipment for readiness; and Compiling, reducing and making routine interpretations of field data Education Substitution: A bachelor's degree with superior academic achievement from an accredited or pre-accredited college or university with a grade point average of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale, class standing in the upper third of a graduating class or major subdivision, or membership in a national honor society; OR one full year of graduate level education at an accredited or pre-accredited college or university. Combining Experience and Education: A combination of successfully completed graduate level education and experience that totals one year. Experience: You qualify for the GS-09 grade level if you possess 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level, performing duties such as: Serving as an advanced chemist trainee and selecting appropriate test samples; Performing preliminary chemical analysis; and Making computations and applying correction factors and plotting preliminary prediction values Education Substitution: A master's or equivalent degree or 2 full years of progressively higher graduate education leading to such a degree from an accredited or pre-accredited college or university. Combining Experience and Education: A combination of successfully completed graduate school education in excess of one year and required experience that totals one year. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. You must meet all qualification requirements, including education if applicable to this position, subject to verification at any stage of the application process by 05/28/2026. In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job. You are eligible for this appointing authority if you are an individual who: Completed, within the previous two years by 05/28/2026, a qualifying associate's, bachelor's, master's, professional, doctorate, vocational or technical degree or certificate from a qualifying educational institution or completed a qualifying career or technical education program (which may include Registered Apprenticeship Programs, Job Corps, AmeriCorps, and Peace Corps) . Review Recent Graduates for additional eligibility information. If you are a veteran who was unable to apply within two years of receiving your degree due to military service obligation, you have as long as six years after degree completion to apply. You must submit a copy of your transcripts showing type of degree received and date degree was received. In addition, if you are a veteran who was unable to apply within two years of receiving your degree due

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